No surprises in airport survey results

The recent online, and unscientific, survey of travelers using Albany International Airport held no surprises for local policymakers and airport officials.

Basically, we want low fares, flights to JFK, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and JetBlue.

One troubling finding: Over the past year, more than a third of the respondents had gone elsewhere to fly, ignoring Albany for better fares and nonstop flights.

Among the findings:

The cost of a ticket was the number one factor in choosing a flight, followed by the availability of nonstop flights, total travel time, departure and arrival time, and airline or frequent flier preference.

Travelers want nonstop flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles and JFK in New York City.

Of airlines that don’t now serve the airport, travelers most want to see JetBlue, followed by Frontier, and then American or American Eagle.

24 Responses

its all about money.the survey states that many travellers are flying from different airports than albany.when they pulled the last flights from albany to jfk and back,they made it difficult for not only business travellers but those of us who fly for pleasure.the shuttle car/limo services have increased their costs by quite a bit since,they halted these flights.last week i drove a rental to jfk thru horrible traffic,took the air train out of the federal circle at jfk and my gal and i were pushed and shoved by the hordes of people on the train.i saw the doors close on an elderly womam before she was pulled aboard.i will look to logan/boston or newark till they make it right.

I used to fly on southwest from albany to west. After experiencing the cattle car conditions and peanut service with no reserved seating so had to sit apart as a family I had enough and Jetblue is far superior to cattlecar southwest. Its only in America that corporations are allowed to degrade humanity for profit. Service is a thing of the past as it interferes with unconstrained profits. Albany Airport itself is nice. TSA is another joke and makes air travel unpleasant.

Gotta tell ya, Albany Airport may be expensive to fly out of, but what a pleasure it is to land then drive 5 minutes and im home. I often fly to DFW and the changing of planes is really no big thing.Drove to Newark once to fly to DFW and then back to Newark because rates were cheap, but then had to drive 2.5 hours home. Trust the savings wasn’t worth the stress of driving back to Albany.

Albany is a great airport. The size is perfect for travelers. Service is very good but could improve in the area of cities that could be served. Pricing is the issue. I sometimes fly into Boston (rather than any NYC airport) and drive to Albany now that the road connection to Logan is improved and still save money. JetBlue is the best domestic US airline for the money. Service is among the best.

Why is that one finding “troubling”? It just shows you what people are willing to do to get what they want or need. I traveled to New Orleans last month and I flew out of Syracuse on JetBlue. The cost of the flight was at least $100 less than any option I had out of ALB and it was worth the $50 in gas to drive there and back to get the service, convenience, and comfort of JetBlue. No, they are not a perfect company, but they were perfect for my travel itinerary.

I flew to Charlotte out of ALB in April and that was the best option for my itinerary at the time. It’s not that we refuse to fly out of Albany, but if there’s a better deal on cost or travel time offered by another airline at another airport, we’ll take it. That’s not troubling, that’s just common sense.

What I want is restoration of U.S. Air’s nonstop to Pittsburgh. Now, to get to Pittsburgh, you have to fly Southwest to Baltimore, U.S. Air to Philadelphia or the Northwest/Delta to Detroit. When you add it all up, it saves you almost no time vs. driving, so driving is what we end up doing multiple times per year. One of my co-workers says to get to Pittsburgh, she flies out of Hartford, because they do have non-stop.

I fly roughly one long distance flight a month, usually with a connection in Newark or Dulles (guess what airline I fly on). For business travel, it’s not about the cost of the ticket, it’s about the cost of missing your meeting, or having to fly out a day early just to be sure to be there for your meeting. The transition to smaller planes to/from Albany means weather that would not be an issue for a 737 will ground a Q200. The reduced number of flights to hub airports means that a delay or cancellation means missing your long haul flight at the hub.

The demand for direct flights to the west coast is because every connection is an opportunity to get delayed, cancelled or bumped.

When I have to be somewhere, and I don’t want to give up a whole weekend with my family, I drive down to Newark and then take the non-stop flight. It’s only 2 1/2 hours in the car, which was the length of my last delay in Newark before they cancelled my flight back to Albany anyway.

The only time I fly is for vacations (which are few and far between). The plane switching doesn’t bother me, as I enjoy the adventure aspect of traveling. The only thing that will get me to fly into and out of Albany more often, however, is the price of flying.

The reason that there is no direct flight to JFK is that the flights to JFK LGA and Newark are ALWAYS delayed by significant period of time. Passengers quickly learn to rent a car one way to the New York area airports to meet their flight instead of connecting there. If you make a connection in Washington DC for example you will have better time.

As far as non-stops to the West coast there is no reason we could not support such a route. Albany supports two non-stops to Las Vegas via Southwest.

Southwest Airlines is not the bargain it used to be. We used to fly on Southwest from Albany to Austin Texas, but now it seems United/Continental have better fairs thru Orbits and Xpedia, even with the checked bag rip off fees.

the basic facts are the Albany market cannot fill planes to the west coast everyday of the week which is what is required. In addition the airline is looking for business travel which means last minute higher fares. Albany doesnt have an IBM or GE that will drive that many flyers to the route. Yes its a business and they want to make money. And anybody who thinks southwest is a cattle car must never wait in the lines of people on the other airlines who cannot comprehend the board zone where there seat is located.

I live in Dallas and fly every week. As a native of the Capital District I often fly home to visit. When American left I tried several routes. The least expensive and most direct flight is to go to Hartford/ Springfield and drive over the Berkshires. Beats flying to Newark. I think it is a shame that the Capital city of the great State of New York cannot support a major airline like American, leaving its residents to fly multiple stops on second tier carriers.

I’m an Albany native living in Orlando and I would be THRILLED to have another non stop option between my homes. Southwest is NOT cheap and I’d much rather fly JetBlue. I like that I can watch tv or listen to music on JetBlue the entire flight, even take off. I suppose they include this feature for when you are stuck on the tarmac for 72 hours, or when a flight attendant or pile goes nutso. All that aside, I have had good luck with JetBlue. Southwest is decent but the eating is pain in the arse.

I am a frequent Flyer and would not even think of driving to to another Airport to save a few bucks. The Albany Airport is convenient, and you can get almost anywhere with one stop. Either Chicago, Detroit, Newark, or DC. The $5.00 an day parking is a plus. You have to remember that Albany is a secondary market and the local community should be grateful to the Airport Authority’s and the hard work it takes to maintain the service we receive from the carriers that service Albany. In a time of industry consolidation and Airline Bankruptcies Albany has basically held its own losing only American Airlines. Folks please remember to support our local Airport or we could possibly lose some of the service we currently enjoy.

When looking for flights, i always check nearby airports. Why is it consistently cheaper to fly out of Syracuse, Hartford, Newburgh and even Burlington than Albany? No one has ever explained that to me. Also, why do Hartford, Syracuse and Newburgh have more non-stop options than Albany? Neither one of these cities are hub cities, yet Albany has less options.

Pricing and options….that’s what Albany airport should do a better job on

I am a fan of the Albany County airport (eay to get around and inexpensive parking), and a fan of Southwest Airline (the crews on Southwest are always pleasant, and the airline takes good care of my lugggage). However, Southwest is no longer the inexpensive carrier they once were. Albany needs JetBlue, if for no other reason than competition. Fares will fall if they come here.
It would also be nice to have direct flights to western cities other than Las Vegas; San Diego and Denver would be my choices.

It would be nice if we could get direct flights from albany to some places here in NY, such as Buffalo. It amazes me that Cape Air service is available to Ogdensburg, but I can’t get a similar, convenient flight to Buffalo.

short story about rates out of Albany. Needed round trip to Atlanta for 6 day stay. Albany wanted $405. Flew out of Newark for $198. Parked long term off of airport for $50. Yes I paid for some tolls and gas but still well worth it. It was also direct flight.
Albany just cant compete most of the time.Not everyone wants to go to Disney World

Don’t even get me started about airlines and pricing. It’s amazing that on any given flight everyone is paying a different price. How does that happen in 2012. Anyway, to stay on topic, we usually take two “big” vacations per year. In the last few years we have flown out of Newburgh, Newark, JFK and LaGuardia. Everytime we make that drive I say it’s the last time, but when I go to book the next trip, we are heading on the Thruway again. My next trip is to Cancun and we were going to go out of Syracuse but amazingly the Albany prices dropped. Let’s hope that continues.

@ 6 yep you fly back and forth from syr. have to pay the toll pay to park the car for however long you are gone and pay for the gas.. You about break even. The only plus to syr in ur situation is if its a nonstop flight